MIND & METRIC MEDIA

03 - ABOUT

Walker Zhao

Performance media expert - SEM & Programmatic | Auckland, New Zealand

FOUNDER, MIND & METRIC MEDIA

The career started in FMCG - Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Carlsberg, across China. Managing budgets, running campaigns, watching what actually moved volume versus what looked good in a deck. That foundation installs a question that doesn't go away: did this advertising work, or did it just spend?

New Zealand, 2021. A rapid progression through digital performance: hands-on search management, then leading GroupM Nexus activation teams across paid search, paid social, and programmatic at Mindshare, then Digital Performance Director at WPP Media Australia & New Zealand. A decade inside the largest media networks in the world, running campaigns for clients across travel, retail, automotive, education, and finance.

Mind & Metric Media exists because the question from 2013 still doesn't get answered often enough.

Walker Zhao, Founder of Mind & Metric Media, Auckland performance media specialist
Walker Zhao

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Awards & recognition

INDUSTRY CREDENTIALS

- Winner - Google Honours Agency SuperStar Award, Q2 2025

- Finalist - IAB New Zealand Digital Advertising Awards, Best Performance Campaign, 2023

- Finalist - IAB New Zealand Digital Advertising Awards, Emerging Talent, 2023

Recognition

04 - IN THE ROOM

Google Honours Agency SuperStar Award 2025 — official winner announcement, Walker Zhao

Google Honours — Agency SuperStar Award, Q2 2025

IAB 2023 Emerging Talent shortlist — Walker Zhao, GroupM NZ

IAB 2023 — Emerging Talent finalist, Walker Zhao / GroupM NZ

Walker Zhao at Google HQ Mountain View — Google Honours trip 2026

Google HQ, Mountain View — Invited as Google Honours winner, 2026

Google Honours winners at Google HQ staircase, Mountain View 2026

Google HQ — Google Honours winners cohort, 2026

Google Honours cohort inside Google HQ, Mountain View 2026

Inside Google HQ — Google Honours programme, 2026

IAB New Zealand Digital Advertising Awards 2023 — Walker Zhao and team

IAB New Zealand Digital Advertising Awards

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